


Blue Alabaster

by FadingThroughNebulae



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Birthdays, Broken Bones, Evening conversations, F/M, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Happy Ending, Headcanon, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Keyblade Training, Land of Departure (Kingdom Hearts), Major Character Injury, Pre-Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Teenagers, meteor showers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadingThroughNebulae/pseuds/FadingThroughNebulae
Summary: Just before his seventeenth birthday, Terra experiences a wrist injury during his keyblade training with Aqua. She tries her best to comfort him.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 9





	Blue Alabaster

**Author's Note:**

> This goes along with my recent headcanon that Terra and Aqua cannot gauge the extent of their own strength, so they end up beating the crap out of each other when they train together. (Much to Master Eraqus's dismay.) This is one of those instances. Story takes place four years before BBS, right around the time Ventus arrives at the Land of Departure.

A strong chill seeped through the castle's tiny infirmary. Terra’s eyes fluttered open to the sound of a dripping faucet. He sat up, and a dull pounding radiated under his temples. He put a hand to his forehead. _How long had he slept?_ He swayed to the side a bit, drowsiness heavy in his limbs. His palms sunk into the plush mattress as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. As he began to push himself up, a significant amount of pressure was placed on his wrist. His bad wrist. 

Terra sucked air through gritted teeth, his body tensing. He lowered himself back onto the bed, an intense pain shooting up his right hand. He sat there for a moment, shaking as he struggled to adjust to the burning crawling up to his elbow. The faucet continued to drip in the corner near the medicine cabinet mounted to the wall. Even now, it lay significantly bare, its shelves stocked with only a handful of gauze and an empty packet of pain suppressants. Trying to relax his breathing, Terra closed his eyes, his focus latching onto the smells of the room.

The distinct sweetness of honeysuckle and morning dew mingled in the air with that of disinfectant. Someone had cast Cure in here not too long ago. He took a few deep breaths, shuddering as he exhaled. The competing scents enveloped the room in a thick cloud. Terra stared at the decorative beige and gold wallpaper over the sink when his eyes opened. He slowly unclenched his jaw, releasing a low sigh before glancing down at the gauze wrapped tightly around his wrist. The splints underneath dug deep into his skin. 

_That's right._ His fingers delicately traced over the tan fabric. _Aqua struck me one too many times. She knocked me back and I tried to break my fall._ His touch triggered small waves of needling discomfort. Terra pulled back and a pitiful laugh passed his lips.

He recalled how Aqua hit him three times square in the chest before sending him flying backward. How he landed wrong. How a loud popping sound echoed off the marble walls of the castle. Just how much agony had surged through his body, and how he lay stretched out on his back in the forecourt, with his arm clutched to his chest and tears in his eyes. 

Aqua watched him fall. Terra had met her terrified eyes as he descended, time slowing as she began to run towards him. When he smacked into the ground, her scream reached him in full clarity, magnifying the sudden pain he felt. She had cast her keyblade aside, quickly coming into view on his right. Frantic apologies escaped her as she touched his shoulder, trying to do something. Anything.

Master Eraqus soon stooped down on Terra's left, gently pulling his right hand to him. Terra could still feel the cold stone pressing up into him through his shirt as he sat there on the mattress. Master Eraqus had uttered something at the time to Aqua, a deep sternness in his voice.

"I thought I told you never to swing so hard." Aqua hugged her arms tightly to her body to keep herself from shaking. Her fingers dug into her shoulder. Master Eraqus chided her further, accidentally rotating Terra's arm a tad too far and provoking a sharp cry. "I'm surprised you haven't broken his ribs yet."

“I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying to-” Aqua's voice came out soft and smothered as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She had met Terra's eyes and he stared back at her through a narrowed gaze lined with tears. 

Though the pain continued to radiate through his wrist greatly at the time, Terra remembered he had slowly muttered a few words or more to Aqua. Something among the lines of a joke mixed with forgiveness, mouthed through a pained smile and ragged breaths. Something among the lines of...

_"You... forgot... your special move."_

The memory subsided, with Aqua laughing at him through tears. 

Terra scanned the room as he slipped off the bed and hobbled on weak legs towards the leaky faucet. The phantom pressure from the cool ground pressed into his back remained. Aqua and Master Eraqus had hauled him up and helped him climb the steps into the castle, into the infirmary. Master Eraqus gave Terra an elixir before resetting his wrist. He coud still taste the bitterness of it on his tonuge. He remembered Aqua leaning over him once they placed him on the bed. Her short hair hung in her tear-stained face as she struggle to keep Terra calm and still while Master Eraqus worked. That room was filled with more screams that day than any time in the past. When Terra's discomfort died down, Master Eraqus wrapped his injury as he began nodding off into heavy sleep. 

He slumped over the sink, handles squeaking as he touched them. The dripped stopped. Terra grasped the porcelain edge, his head hanging. Master Eraqus’s voice faintly echoed in his ears.

"This is the second injury within the past four months from you two. First your shoulder, then his wrist. I’d expect both of you to have some more self-control.”

“But Master Era-”

“No, Aqua. I'm sorry, but I'm postponing any more training until you two can learn to fight properly. This has gone on for long enough."

Terra lifted his eyes to the reflection in the mirror and held his gaze. Deep circles bagged under his eyes. A dark bruise rested on his temple, and a small cut traced the right side of his chin. He remembered seeing Aqua standing in the shadowy hall outside the doorway as his sight began to dim, his cheek sinking into the plush pillow. Her hand wrapped around the arm that Master Eraqus referred to, though the bones had long since healed. She bowed her head as the door creaked close. "Yes, Master Eraqus." 

Rubbing his cheek, Terra sighed. Perhaps they should start being more cautious. He pushed himself off the marble sink and wandered outside into the forecourt, his hand dangling next to his leg. He looked to the mountains in the distance. The dying sunlight glinted off their snowy peaks. Dropping his gaze to his feet, Terra started for the summit.


End file.
